When you Google this song, you find an entry at the Neutral Milk Hotel archive that explicitly states that it has the same chord progression as Green Day’s “When I Come Around.” It’s a curious thing, I guess, but somehow it feels irrelevant. Having said that, I understand the importance of the mention; the almost cliche progression plays a role in the sentiment within this song, and it’s something that defines Neutral Milk Hotel.
Perhaps it really is the familiarity of the chord change that makes “My Dreamgirl Don’t Exist” click, or maybe it’s the theme Jeff Mangum touches on (about being in love with a girl he found in a history book) or the lines he uses in later Milk songs (more notably “Ghost”), but I can’t think of something sadder. Maybe it’s just the song title, though I refuse to believe that.
Jeff Mangum is an exposed nerve, an acne covered high school student who can’t stop reading his poetry out loud to the cheerleader he fell in love with. His voice often cracks, he screams and misses the note, howling in despair. It’s a vulnerability that can’t be faked, paired with beautiful, tragic poetry with biblical and historical images that evoke feelings in our brain that we can’t escape. Of course, this is not for everybody, but if it’s for you, if the chemicals in your brain respond to everything Mangum gives us, then there’s little as powerful as his music. Which is why most fans are so vocal about their love. However, if you’re wired differently, you can’t help but being annoyed by it.
It’s three chords, an easy to remember melody, lyrics that reach back in time and ask very big questions, and you’ll have something to yell about. The pain caused by sorrows past that fuel the feelings summoned here are supplied by the listener who gets involved, whether he or she likes it or not.